Hair algae problem

Stirfry · #1 04-11-2004, 04:39 AM

i have a 80 gal acrilic tank that has been going fo a bout 2 years!!

i have a massive hair algea problem and cant stop it i have a 2 foot long snow flake eel and fox face and a 6" lion fish and a couple coral and anenomes and about 70 pound's of liverock and i have so much hair algea in my tank that i can clean it out one week and two weeks latter it will come back and i can not even see the ground!!!
help!
help!
help!

i also need to get a good metal halid and a good protein skimmer fo a 30 gal reef tank and id like to have alot of coral and such...

Does a bubble tip anenome need high liting??
iv seen them at a pet store under two 40 watt bulbs and thats what i have let me know some stuff!!!!
thx for anything that u can help

Dale D · #2 04-11-2004, 04:56 AM

How does your water test.? Nitrate? Phosphate?

How often do you do water changes. What do you use for replacement water? I've heard Aldergrove has pretty bad water.

Do you use a skimmer?

Lions and morays can produce alot of waste.

Delphinus · #3 04-11-2004, 04:58 AM

Whoa ... there's a lot to digest in this post.

You have a tank with a very high bioload with some of those critters. What do you do for nutrient export? What kind of skimmer do you have, if any? What are you using for making seawater, tap water or RO or RO/DI? If RO, how old is your membrane?

What are your lights? How old are your lights?

And ... uh ... BTA's don't need a lot of light, but, they need more than what 2 40w'ers can provide. I don't want to sound harsh, .. but ... this is not a recipe for success.

Let me know the answers to my questions and let's see what kind of long-term plan we can come up with here. We'll get through this, but be prepared you may need to change a thing or two ....

Stirfry · #4 04-11-2004, 05:01 AM

water is perfect and i change about 5 gal every week
protein skimmer is on the way just need more money
not to rich trying to find a mach 5,6,7,8 and a protienskimmer and a metal halid for both tanks and i need to know

im thinking on moving my coral, anenomes and some of my rock to my smaller tank
and then changing it over to a fish only and then adding a picasso trigger and a panther grouper , and a squril fish(cant spell)and hopefully and then hopfully the shold clean it off.!!??

Stirfry · #5 04-11-2004, 05:03 AM

4 vho about a year old replacing one at a time as i get money
need a protein skimmer!! dont have 200-300 dollars for one
could the bta live in the tank for a month with 2 40 watt bulb?? just a
time being....

Dale D · #6 04-11-2004, 05:14 AM

Adding more predatory, high waste producing, carnivors to the tank won't solve your algea problem.

If you want to get rid of algea you need to decrease nutrient import and increase nutrient export.

Also adding algea consumers, snails and hermits etc would help. Unfortunately triggers, morays and other predators find them tasty.

Stirfry · #7 04-11-2004, 05:17 AM

thATS MY PROBLEM AND I DONT WANT TO get rid of them!!!!!

Delphinus · #8 04-11-2004, 05:19 AM

4 vho? or 2 40w'ers? err sorry now I'm confused, which is which? 4 vho is plenty of light.

This is my advice. You can get by without a good skimmer if you have good tank management practises, i.e., regular water changes. You're better off with "no" skimmer than a "weak" skimmer, so if you get one, do as you are doing, and save up and wait for a deal to come up on one that's used.

If I had to choose between lighting and a skimmer, I'd go with the lighting first, and get the skimmer second (because you can compensate).

Can a BTA get by for a month under low light? I don't know, it's risky. Maybe. You will certainly have to feed it, because it has to get it's energy from somewhere. Try some mysis.

...

The hair algae is indicative of a high nutrient load. NO3, and PO4. The algae may be "sucking up" the nutrients so fast that when you test the water for the these, you actually get a zero or low reading. If they were "truly" zero the algae would have trouble growing so fast.

...

Here's one thing you can try. Set up a refugium, get some cheap fluorescent lights for it, and stock it up with caulerpa. The caulerpa, being an algae, will suck up the nutrients, and hopefully outcompete the "nuisance" algaes. It likely won't solve the problem altogether, but it can help to slow the nuisance algae down.

Stirfry · #9 04-11-2004, 05:24 AM

i have 4 vho bulb in my 80 with my hair problem and then in my 30 gal i have 2 40 watt bulbs and i need to move my anenome and such for about a month untill i can afford new lighting or find a good deal!!??

know anyone in the alderrove langly abbostford are with cheap balasts for metal halide and what should i go with for my 30 gal 26" deep

Dale D · #10 04-11-2004, 05:31 AM

I would increase the size or frequency of the water changes. When you do a water change pull as much of the hair algea off as you can and syphon it out. Also syphon off any loose detritus off the rocks and out of the clumps of algea. As hair algea spreads and gets longer it can trap alot of detritus that breaks down producing nutrients that just fuel it's growth.